Southern Burlington County Naacp v. Township Of Mount Laurel

67 N.J. 151, 336 A.2d 713, appeal dismissed and cert. denied 423 U.S. 808 (1975)

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Nature of the Case

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Facts

Southern Burlington County NAACP (P) brought suit against the Township of Mount Laurel (D). P claimed that D's zoning ordinance, which permitted only single-family detached dwellings, unlawfully excluded low and moderate-income families from the town. Under the present ordinance 29.2% of all the land in the township or 4,121 acres is zoned for industry. At the time of trial, no more than 100 acres were occupied by industrial uses. The rest of the land so zoned has remained undeveloped. Retail business use under the general ordinance was 169 acres or 1.2% of the total. There are no major shopping centers or concentrated retail commercial areas in the township. The balance of the 10,000 acres of land has been developed in the form of major residential subdivisions. All the designated residential zones permit only single-family detached homes. Attached townhomes, apartments (except on farms for farm hands), and mobile homes are not allowed anywhere in the township under the general ordinance. This has resulted in intense low-density development of the residential districts. The average value of the dwellings was $32,500 in 1971 and is probably much higher today. The general ordinance requirements basically allow only homes within the financial reach of the middle-income household. Even so the requirements are not as restrictive as those are in many similar municipalities. There were plans for PUD units and PARC units but even the repealed PUD ordinance was for upper-income residents and the PARCs clearly showed that they were not designed for low or moderate-income retirees. Under the PARC ordinances at least one resident had to be 52 or older and the children were limited to the maximum age of one over 18 and that there could be no more than three permanent residents in each dwelling. A 1969 Master Plan recognized the lack of decent housing for the poor who were living in substandard accommodations. The governmental response was to wait until those houses or buildings were run down and vacated and then it forbid others from occupying them. A private non-profit group tried to build subsidized housing and was told it was a great idea but they had to build single-family detached dwellings on 20,000 sq. ft. lots. The trial court invalidated the ordinance and ordered the township to make studies and investigations and to present a plan to enable and encourage the indicated needs for low and moderate income housing.